My friend Jamie asked me this via email:
I may have the option to get a blackberry or a treo on either a Rogers or Telus network and I was wondering if you have had any experience with these products.
I know Telus has better network reliability in some of the locations I will be frequenting (ie. Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast), so I am leaning towards Telus.
The Treo is an open platform, so you can easily load other applications and get accessories for it. Blackberry stuff only comes from Blackberry, and there is little to no developer community making apps for it.
Rogers uses SIM cards, so you can get unlocked devices from any where and use them on the network. I've been through three phones (Sony Ericsson T610, Sony Ericsson P800, and now my Nokia 6630), and all I did was take the same chip and move it between phones. You can only get Telus phones from Telus, and you can't use the devices on any other network ever.
The only point in Telus' favour is wider network coverage. But where are you going to be using the device the most? How much time do you spend in remote places vs. central places?
My recommendation: get an unlocked Treo (either locally or online) and get Rogers/Fido (Rogers bought Fido). I would never willingly put myself in a position where I have a locked phone or am locked into a service provider.
Hope that helps. Ask questions in the comments or share your own experiences with advanced mobile devices here in Canada.